230 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



observations and delineations were in any proper sense erroneous. They 

 were simply made at a great disadvantage, in the absence of a clear con- 

 ception of the general plan of structure presented in the object. Some of 

 the details indispensable to its recognition, being only faintly presented, 

 were overlooked, or, appearing by mere suggestions and glimpses of 

 vision, they conveyed an erroneous impression ; in this way the mutual 

 relation of the various parts came to be entirely misconceived. The 

 missing links were supplied by the larger optical power of Lord Rosse's 

 telescope, too plainly not to insure notice ; and the nebula then pre- 

 sented itself under a totally different aspect. Instances of similar reve- 

 lations, completely at variance with previous conjectures, have indeed 

 so often occurred in the history of astronomical discovery, that the pro- 

 cess ought to be regarded as the ordinary rule, rather than as an un- 

 usual exception. 



Professor Bowen read a paper arguing against the wisdom 

 of legal enactments requiring banks to keep a fixed and con- 

 stant proportion of specie in reserve. 



Mr. Felton read a paper on the honey of Mount Hymettus, 

 of which he had received a supply from the Rev. Dr. Hill of 

 Athens. He gave an account of the Grecian bee, citing pas- 

 sages from the poets, beginning with Homer : next, the vari- 

 ous occasions, religious and social, on which honey was used 

 by the ancients were enumerated. The employment of honey 

 in the medical practice of the Athenian physicians, especially 

 by Hippocrates and Galen, was explained, and passages were 

 cited from the writings of Hippocrates. The next topic was 

 a philological one, the use of honey as a term of comparison, 

 and the frequency with which the word ^e\t (honey) is com- 

 pounded with other words in descriptive epithets. This was 

 shown by a series of passages in the poets and prose-writers, 

 from Homer to Plato and Aristotle. The reputation of the honey 

 of Mt. Hymettus in ancient times was then illustrated by quo- 

 tations from Strabo and Pliny ; and in modern times, by the 

 testimony of the old traveller, Wheeler, and others. The wild 

 thyme which flourishes in abundance on the mountain, and 

 which gives its peculiar flavor and fragrance to the honey, was 

 described, and specimens exhibited. 



